Internet 24

My name is Ana, and this is my story.

A cold breeze bounces of my jacket. The cold would pierce through me if I wore my regular coat. He knew that and made me take his, knowing what it meant. Still, I don't feel as bad as the person next to me.

Her name is Nhu. She is dressed in a navy pantsuit with red heels. Thats it. No extra jacket, and she is shivering. She holds her phone up to record our conversation. Something about using it to write a report of everything.

I don't care. My eyes are staring at the night sky. The moon is full, and the stars are alive. We are tucked away in a secret empty field hidden in the forest. Far from the small town I called home. My eyes move down to the crater below the hill. Nature has healed it as the grass has covered it up, but the indent I made on this planet will forever be there.

ANA

In one's last hour, it can't be helped if

I reflect on my whole life. Is this melodramatic?

NHU

No. Well, actually, yeah. It's depressing too.

ANA

I can walk away.

NHU

BUT! Let me finish.

Nhu takes a breath.

NHU

But, for your situation, it makes complete sense.

We already went over the necessary details, but I

think it will be helpful if you discuss it.

Tell me your story again.

ANA

I was joking. I know it's not. Especially when

I'm not dying. I feel like I am. I guess I am.

Either way, melodrama is necessary.

NHU

Don't worry, I have what I need. Just let it out.

I do. I have only a few minutes left. What else should I do than think about all I love. The stars are above as I stand in the clearing, staring at the full moon as it shines its soft light down on me. My heart pounds as I can't stand still. Either I sway side to side or jitter in place. I just want this over with. I check the time on my phone, 11:11 PM. He should be in bed by now.

Looking at me, you would think I am from this world. I wouldn't blame you. It's crazy to think anyone is an alien except if you said that about me. I have two tongues, oval-shaped pupils, and no ears. I wore prosthetics when walking around to avoid suspension. Not because of how it looks, but I couldn't explain how I hear so well. Can't say, "Oh, I hear through my whole body as my skin acts as a source of the sound, and I focus it to hear things you could only dream of."

My people's technology is advanced. I know it's obvious because of the whole space travel stuff, but we are really, REALLY ahead of you technologically except in one field. The people of Earth have cured a disease that has massacred my people for years. My planet's death toll is comparable to this planet's bubonic plague.

Call it divine luck or cosmic irony that my life was spared because I was the only one born resistant to the disease. Due to this, my people "volunteered" me on a mission to hurtle in space alone. All in hopes of finding a cure for my people. Selfish of them, but necessary.

They found a planet 1,234 planets away. Our scientists claimed it was our only hope. It was Earth. I was placed on our fastest rocket and shot into the grand abyss past the sky. Only the soft hums of the shuttle's computer system and the occasional beeps.

I drifted into the stars alone for what felt like months. Maybe it was days, and I'm blowing it up again. When isolated for so long, the term "time is relative" becomes more real. Space is dark. I know that sounds redundant, but you don't realize what pure darkness is until you experience it.

Imagine that space between your dreams and waking up; that's what it felt like staring into the gaps between stars and planets. The dark swallowed my eyes as I drifted deeper into my solitude.

Until the bright red of my shuttle breaking the atmosphere shined through the glass of my ship. My eyes felt a tingle as they tried to adjust to the sudden light. A sensation they forgot and are being forced to be accustomed to. It wasn't a soft landing.

I cracked the sky and tore the Earth with my landing.

Steam seeps from the shuttle as the pod doors open. After the chaotic entry of the shuttle, it's a bit charring to hear the quiet night and the bugs signing. When my pod's door opened, a full moon greeted me with its glow. The breeze of the clearing whispered in my ears, and a light shined far into the field.

The light was my guide to the top of a hill overlooking a town. While I walked down the hill, my clothes started to alter into something more fitting for the people around me. Each strand of fabric enveloped in light moved around my body, reweaving itself tightly. A baseball cap, bomber, and jeans. Inconspicuous.

This affected my facial features, my dark skin stayed the same, but my more unique physical features were covered in a mist of illusions. Fortunately, we are genetically similar. Equal species from two different worlds. To everyone walking around, I was another stranger on the sidewalk. A face that will blend into their memories, only to appear as an extra in their dreams.

My time here was always limited. After I land, my ride will be here to take me back once I signal them. It took me twelve days to find the cure. Apparently, the disease is common here and is cured with over-the-counter medicine. My world saved with just $12.34 with tax.

It was at the counter that I met him. Too many, he would have looked like a regular pharmacist. His voice was a bit higher, but his image struck me deep. I think it was the tone he spoke in. It was oldy gentle but commanding. In my eyes, he emits a soft glow.